


Her (Word A) and His (Word B)

by ckret2



Series: No Kings Only Monsters (KOTM continuity / related oneshots) [31]
Category: Godzilla (2014), Godzilla - All Media Types, Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: (mentioned) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Character Study, Gen, Godzilla & Mothra sibling relationship, Kaiju Linguistics, Language Barrier, Linguistics, POV Multiple, and ghidorah & half of monarch start playing mad libs trying to translate, rodan says ONE sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21868036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ckret2/pseuds/ckret2
Summary: The language barriers, cultural assumptions, and personal baggage blocking communication between humans, aliens, and titans—as demonstrated by what should have been an incredibly simple question about Godzilla and Mothra’s relationship.
Series: No Kings Only Monsters (KOTM continuity / related oneshots) [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1483448
Comments: 6
Kudos: 70





	Her (Word A) and His (Word B)

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of an ongoing series of one-shots set in a KOTM canon-divergent AU; but if you don’t want to read the others, the only things you need to know are: Ghidorah’s still alive and shacking up on Isla de Mara; Rodan’s been teaching Ghidorah his language and the nearest Monarch base has been eagerly recording the lessons; Rodan refers to everyone—including himself—by the names of the nearest geological feature they call home; and Rodan is oblivious to 90% of the history between Ghidorah and Godzilla.
> 
> This is actually set like… a couple fics in the future from where I’m writing right now, but it doesn’t really affect the main continuity. Inspired loosely by [an ask I got](https://ckret2.tumblr.com/post/187785862847/i-wonder-what-mark-thinks-about-the-whole-alpha) like “in this continuity, what’s Mark doing now that he knows his theories are wrong?” and I answered “lmao he doesn’t know.”

As Rodan and Ghidorah's conversations got more complicated and Rodan's language lessons to Ghidorah became more intricate, sometimes the hardworking crew at Monarch Outpost 56-B couldn't immediately offer a direct translation in the subtitles of their Rodan-to-Spanish/English language lesson videos.

Such was the case today, when they'd had to offer the following translation to a brief exchange that had taken place while Ghidorah was curled around the curve of the volcano and Rodan was hopping through the trees below:

Ghidorah: "What is Mothra and Godzilla's [relationship/interaction]?"

Rodan: "Godzilla is her [unknown word 1] and Mothra is his [unknown word 2]. The same way you[plural] are [unknown word 1 (plural form)]."

Usually, at that point, Ghidorah would ask for clarification, and Rodan would—through metaphor, synonym, story, or physical demonstration—offer a definition for the new words. But instead Ghidorah made what 56-B had dubbed his Confirmation Sound, and the exchange had quickly ended:

Rodan: "Do you understand?"

Ghidorah: "Yes."

And that was it.

By virtue of her work in paleobotany, Dr. Xochitl Flores Rosales had been hired by Monarch; by virtue of her ability to actually speak Spanish, she had received an emergency transfer to the three trailers on Isla de Mara that made up Outpost 56-B; and by virtue of her undergrad linguistics minor and college hobby of making YouTube videos synchronizing video game cut scenes with Linkin Park songs, most of her time was now taken up by creating Monarch-unapproved videos of Rodan language lessons.

This wasn't the first time Xochitl had posted a video with some words left blank. Some time back, Rodan and Ghidorah had left Isla de Mara for a few days, stayed mostly outside of the range of any cameras or recorders that could catch their conversation, and come back with their shared vocabulary doubled; Xochitl was still figuring out some of the words they'd started using while they were gone. Whenever she did, she updated the subtitles in the older videos and mentioned the updates in the next video. This, however, felt different. It _felt_ like a Rodan-teaching-a-new-word situation, not like a Rodan-using-a-word-he'd-covered-where-Monarch-couldn't-hear situation. But he hadn't explained the words to Ghidorah—which meant the meanings should be obvious from the context, shouldn't they? But what _were_ they?

Xochitl posted the video as usual, grumbled about the challenges of translating titans on her private twitter, and pushed her concerns aside to take her shift monitoring the titan activity on the volcano.

When she got back, she'd received commiserating likes from both Chen twins—they had their work cut out for them translating Mothra’s telepathic conversations—and an email from Mark Russell entitled "Latest translation vid." Ah. He was probably going to offer his opinion on how to translate the two unknown words.

Sure enough, when she clicked to read his email:

_Dr. Flores-Rosales,_

_I had a thought about the two unknown words in the language lesson you put up today. What if they're indicators of rank in titan hierarchy? "Godzilla is her king and Mothra is his queen, the same way you are kings"; "Godzilla is her alpha and Mothra is his beta, the same way you are alphas"; "Godzilla is her leader and Mothra is his standard-bearer, the same way you are leaders," something like that. The fact that Rodan explains the word by comparing how Godzilla and Ghidorah have the trait in common makes it sound like he's talking about something unique to the two of them (four of them?), doesn't it? Let me know what you think._

_Dr. Mark Russell_

She'd considered the possibility—she didn't _like_ it, because she wasn't too keen on how hard Mark was pushing the "cross-species herd with one alpha" hypothesis without _anyone_ exploring the alternatives—but she'd considered it. It was on the list of possibilities, at least—a list that was unfortunately broad and woefully inconclusive.

She took a minute to think over her wording, then typed up a polite email acknowledging his suggestion and explaining that they hadn't heard the words in enough contexts yet for them to draw any conclusions.

###

"What is The Bug and Little King's relationship?"

The three of them were sure that the names that the red sprite called the bug and the little king did not, in fact, translate to "The Bug" and "Little King." But they didn't know what the red sprite's names for them _did_ mean—didn't even know if names in the red sprite's language _had_ meanings, many names in many languages didn't—so until they received a translation, in _their_ minds, the names would continue to mean The Bug and Little King.

The question of the relationship between those two plagued them. Had plagued them for—how long had they been frozen?—for _ages_. Ever since they'd landed on this rock, stumbled on the bug that shone psychic lights too too deep into their minds, killed her, found she was simply reborn remembering everything about them except that they'd killed her; began hunting and crushing her eggs, been attacked by the little king, and found him ready to fight them at every one of her nests like her personal bodyguard. They'd grown to detest the little king as much as the bug. But they especially detested how the two of them fought side-by-side.

At last, they had someone they could pump for more information. They knew both the bug and the little king's names (sort of); they could ask about them without having to make a fuss about it, without having to draw it out into a long conversation that could be overheard and reported back to the bug and little king. This could be quick and simple.

Except that red sprite answered, without looking up from whatever curiosity he'd identified in the forest below his volcano, immediately and simply, "Little King is her _something_ and The Bug is his _something else_." Two words they didn't know. At their puzzled silence, the red sprite glanced back at them and elaborated, "The same way you're _something_."

Something twisted inside them as they realized they knew exactly what he meant.

The first sickening translation they reached was one that fit exactly what they'd always feared and expected to be the dynamic between a warrior with the strength to destroy the world who nevertheless refused to use it and an overpowered psychic who appeared to direct the warrior's actions. The translation they reached was _the little king is her slave and the bug is his master_. But, no. Surely the red sprite wouldn't follow that up with _the same way you're slaves_.

"Aha," they said, uncomfortably.

The red sprite cocked his head. "Do you understand?"

The red sprite wouldn't speak to them like that. He'd never _seen_ them as slaves. He'd never seen them in harness as a war machine rather than as they were now. He'd never seen them as anything but free agents of accelerated entropy. He had no reason to call them slaves.

Then, a similar word. _The little king is her weapon and the bug is his wielder. The same way you're weapons_. Or something similar— _warrior_ and _commander_ , _monster_ and _handler_. The little king was something the same as they were, and the thing that he was belonged to _her_. That was what mattered. Him as her possession; him as something that _could_ be possessed; them, too, as this same class of thing that could be possessed. Not possessed now, but possessable.

"Yes," they said. And then they turned away, watching the horizon, telling themselves that the psychic prickle they felt in the back of their minds was just that—all in their minds.

###

"What is Infant and Mariana's relationship?"

It was odd for Nido to hear the golden ones refer to the two of them by their proper names, the-one-from-Infant-Island and the-one-from-Mariana-Trench, rather than the more derisive " _it_ " or " _that_ one" they usually used when talking about either of them. Maybe they were getting over being on the losing end of that kerfuffle with them.

Without pausing his weeding, Nido said, "Mariana is her brother and Infant is his sister." He pecked up another unwelcome tree.

When the golden ones didn't reply—even to ask for elaboration—Nido looked up from the forest toward them. (The golden ones were, again, lounging _around_ the volcanic crater instead of _in_ it, like they had no idea what to do with a bunch of perfectly good lava.) Had they covered those words? Maybe not. "The same way you're brothers," Nido said.

The golden ones drew back, averting two of their gazes from him, and said, " _Ihi_." Which they _usually_ only said when they got a word, but they looked anything but comfortable with this new knowledge. Maybe they got the words but weren't sure how they made sense? If they didn't know how Mariana's kind left their eggs in other kinds' nests, they might not understand how members of two totally different species could be siblings.

"Do you understand?" Nido asked, which he'd started using to prompt the golden ones to ask for elaboration when they seemed reluctant to ask on their own.

But they snapped, "Yes," and turned away from him; and he was left wondering whether he'd said something wrong. Did aliens not talk about family? Did the golden ones not like being compared to Mariana? Were they anti-adoption?

He hopped closer, considered asking; but decided not to bother with it until they decided to stop giving him the cold shoulder.

He continued his weeding, feeling like something had been lost in translation.

**Author's Note:**

> Original post available on [tumblr](https://ckret2.tumblr.com/post/187791816897/her-word-a-and-his-word-b). Comments/reblogs there are very welcome (as are comments here)!


End file.
